Marianne Bernhart, Goat-Breeding Expert
What happens when husband and children allow their wife and mother take a two-week trip to North Korea to give technical support and instruction to local goat herders? Marianne Bernhart shares her experiences and impressions of her trip:



The touching hospitality of the Korean people. Marianne enjoys bulgogi (a Korean specialty)


"I think back fondly on my trip.  Despite all the hardships and difficulties at the project locations, I found the people to be motivated, hard-working and truly caring. It was a very special opportunity for me to look into the lives of these typical North Korean citizens. The goal of my trip was to instruct the four local female workers at the breeding station in Zhang Zong in the production of frozen sperm and to process 200-250 doses of goat sperm.  The long-range goal is for this location to supply sperm for various districts in order to improve the overall health and quality of the goat population in North Korea."
Unfortunately, an unreliable electrical supply and the difficulties involved with obtaining the liquid nitrogen required to freeze the samples make the entire operation a practical challenge. The generator provided by Campus fuer Christus has solved at least one part of the problem.

We Finally Have Our New Car!



Back on the road:  Marie-Anne Buehlman with the new 4-wheel drive car.

After our trusty Toyota Landcruiser broke down, our project workers started the long search for a suitable replacement. The search lasted so long since North Korea does not produce its own vehicles and because importing cars is very expensive. Additionally, the condition of roads outside the capital city is so poor that the only type of vehicles which will last for a reasonable period of time and provide even a somewhat comfortable ride is a 4-wheel drive utility vehicle with sturdy shocks and a robust body. Just a few weeks ago we were able to take over such a vehicle from another aid organization that left North Korea last summer.

One Reason to Choose a Sturdy Vehicle



The result of a moment of carelessness.

The long distances between the various project locations are traveled on bumpy, unpaved roads which can be quite dangerous.  Even the paved streets are often filled with bath-tub sized potholes and gaps at the seams in the cement. Since our project workers are not allowed to drive themselves outside of the capital city, our official drivers often have to sit behind the wheel for long, tiring periods.

Thankfully, the team was protected from serious accidents in the past.  They had only experienced the occasional flat tire or other similar inconveniences. However, recently, Heinz Mueller, the agricultural expert who also works for the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), was involved in a very serious accident. His vehicle ran off the road in a curve and flipped over many times until it came to rest on its side. Miraculously, the two Korean officials and the driver escaped without injury and Heinz Mueller suffered a double frac-ture of his collarbone. The car did not fare quite so well: it was totaled.



Outlook for 2003

	We want to continue to emphasize knowledge transfer in our aid strategy.  For this reason, we will concentrate on bringing experts into North Korea or bringing North Koreans to Switzerland to increase skill and understand-ing.  Materials such as milk cans, fertilizer or cleaning products will only be provided when they cannot be obtained locally.  As a result, we now have two "Wish Lists" for 2003: one for material, the other for people.The material list contains things which are or have become unavailable in North Korea.  The mountainous region of Byong Pun Dok, for example, needs more fertilizer to enrich the poor soil, various milk processing centers have little or no cleaning products (vital in maintaining hygienic standards in cheese and yogurt production) and goat herds in many locations are plagued by worms and need medication.  In order to increase efficiency and productivity in sowing, one of our locations could use a blower to dry the seed and another location would put a single-axle tractor to very good use.The people list pertains to the partici-pation of experts – cheese makers, agricultural experts and tanners – in North Korea as well as those who take part in training North Koreans who come to Switzerland and get hands-on training on farms in the Berner Oberland region.  We would also like to expand the range of our courses to make training available to a group of veterinarians.  There is currently a strong possibility that we will be able to open another model milk processing facility in Hungsan, on the eastern coast of North Korea.
From top to bottom:  Goatherd milking her goat./  Recording data in the breeding register./  Cheese in various stages of maturity.

Before the next steps can be planned, however, we need to be certain of our financing.  The development aid project of Campus fuer Christus Switzerland has agreed not to spend money beyond what has been specifically donated to this project; this means that in order to plan wisely for next year, the majority of our funding needs to be in place by January 2003.  We are relying on you, our readers and supporters, to meet this need.  We are especially thankful for each and every donation which reaches us from now until the end of the year.  Your faithfulness now will help us to be able to realize everything we are planning.



We are convinced that your generous gifts are being used wisely and effectively because they are a clear encouragement and bring improvement to the lives of individuals who have been struggling to make a meager living for far too long.  Your participation in North Korea through our project gives these people hope.  Press reports about North Korea show that things have already started to change.  Yet, we still want to remain in the country over the long-term, in order to see the progress that has been made.  Perhaps that progress comes slowly, but it is our wish to see a better life for all citizens.  Will you join us in this long-term perspective?



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